Greetings All,

This topic came to me as I noticed from watching "The Spectacular Spider-Man" on what is now THE CW FOR KIDS, that there are again some major changes going on. Keep in mind that I grew up in the "Golden Age" of Saturday Mornings (70's 80's), when 3 networks played cartoons or childrens shows pretty much non-stop from 6am-12 all sponsored by Breakfast Cereals. With more networks, and the dominaiton of cable Television I know this changed dramatically, some for the better others for the worse. But this latest change has me at a bit of a loss.

OK we all know CN has exclusive content on Saturday mornings, and for the forseeable future it seems they always will, but for the remaining "major" networks it seems that only 4kids TV (Fox's programming block) & The CW for Kids (formerly kids WB) are left. What is odd however is that they are both produced by "4 kids entertainment", thus we will see some of the shows from FOX going over to the CW (ninja turtles & Yu-Gi-oh etc...). I am just wondering if this continued consolidation is the beginning of the end of Saturday mornings, or is it just going into it's next phase?? Truth be told, I dont think Saturday Mornings have been really good in about 10 years with few exceptions, but I would just hate to see the concept die off completely

I really think that Saturday morning cartoons are pretty much dead. The golden age of Saturday Morning cartoons was really end of 70's and 80's.

What we have is specialty channels (CN in the US, Teletoon and YTV in CDA), and usually, they do have their Saturday Morning shows, but that is pretty much it. Even in those specialty channels, you can have maybe one or two shows that are wroth watching, but that's pretty much it. Quality in terms of character development, storylines and animation (ok, that can be debatable), has pretty much gone through the drain. I think all of these cartoons are meant to be like "Fastfood", nothing that will last that long, or memorable, with a very few exceptions.

Sadly, I must agree with Pris. :cry: Cartoons aren't as diverse nor is there the 'morning block' on Saturdays that there once was.

Its not only Saturdays, its also afternoons. Who here doesnt remember rushing home from school to watch cartoons? Only now there is nothing on anything but the specialty stations, and that is mostly crap.

Uhg, tell me about it LS. I almost feel sorry for the kids of today.

I used to rush home all the time. There was the Disney Afternoon, which gave us Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, Gargoyles, there was the Fox afternoon block which showed X-Men and some other stuff.

Even weekday mornings were awesome about giving the kids something to watch. I always used to watch Ninja Turtles or Transformers or Sailor Moon in the morning throughout the week.

And of course, Saturday mornings were the best. We had everything back then. I would go so far as to say that it lasted a little into the early 90s, because I was hooked on Bucky O' Hare, The Tick, Batman, Moon and... well that's pretty much it. But I remember there still being quite a few decent toons coming out at that time. I'm talking early 90s like 94 and earlier.

A few weeks ago I had a Saturday off and decided to see what was on and you're absolutely right. There hardly seems to be anything on for kids these days on the regular channels. The local channels that do still show cartoons usually kill them around 8 or 9 a.m. anymore and then it's right into golf or the news or whatever. And the sad thing is, I still get more enjoyment from cartoons at the age of 28 than I do almost all other TV shows.

I totally agree, and I'm 32. People at the office like to sit around and talk about their "reality" shows, while I just keep all my excitement about my cartoons to myself, or just convey it to you fine people on my breaks/lunch.

Yes both weekdays (mornings & afternoons), as well as saturday mornings are pretty much gone, but seeing you all post your memories sure is nice... I'll go way back for a bit ;)

1st grade from me, I remember watching "Star Blazers" in the morning before school, "superf friends" on weekday afternoons along with Ultraman,Speed Racer, and Scooby-Doo. Then Saturday Mornings were all about Spider-Man, New Superfriends episdes & Looney Tunes..... The line up changed quite a bit through the 80's & early 90's but there was always something good on back in the day....

heh, I'm 34 and I too agree!! (much to my wife's rolled eyes)

Same here, 37 years old, and I am much more "serious" about them than when I was a child.

I.. fourth that statement!

wouldn't that be a fifth? :decepticon:

thanks for making me feel young. I am 27 and there are only a few I am even interested in :)

i'm 17, and i don't give a crap about saturday morning cartoons

well, you like manga so all is forgiven.

That is because you are 17. :lol:
Old age will give you either dementia or a liking to "good" Saturday Morning cartoons. You'll see. ;)

Prisma, I bow to your superior wisdom on the matter :P

Damnit, Road, I'm an English major, not a Mathematician!

rofl

rofl rofl rofl

Aren't you Doctor Archeville, Genius of Science, and by extension, math?
Says so in G1... you gotta change your business cards, Doc. :D

nuff said.

I feel bad for kids today. With the horrible crappy cartoons on. Saturday mornings are dead. Not to mention what's on TV when they get home from school. That's what it was all about.

The lists I could make...

I love lists! Go ahead, let's see what you've got. :D

Stuff I use to watch... in random order

Starblazers
Thunderbirds 2086
Transformers (Currrent except Animated)
Go-Bots
Wheeled Warriors
Thundercats (waiting for the new rumored series)
Centurians
Robotix
Robotech (Waiting for the new Shadow Chronicles Series)
The Bots Master
Cyber X-9
Highlander the Animated Series (Vehicles that ran on Water... pretty creative, I think Cyber X-9 used the same concept since the same creators did both shows)
Gundam
Inhumanoids
Smurfs
Q-bert
Pacman
Popeye
exo-squad
C.O.P.S.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (current series too)
Power Rangers (Current as well)
Big Bad Beetle Borgs
Super Human Samuari Cyber Squad
VR Troopers
Sliver Hawks
Tekaman
He-man (All 3 versions)
Karmen Rider
Star Wars:
Droids
Ewok addventures
The Clone Wars
Biker Mice From Mars
Salior Moon
Shin Chan
ATHF
Sky Surfers
G-Force/Battle of the Planets
War Planets/Shadow Riders


There's more can't think Brain Fart....

Ah, I so miss the old cartoons. I hate the fact that most of the ones I used to watch are so rare, that finding them on DVD is even more rare, or impossible due to the fact that they were never released.

I also hate the fact that, with few exceptions, most of the cartoons of now suck.

I can probably list the current decent cartoons better than try to remember the ones I used to watch. Damn some-timers.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ( Skip the intro song, and the show is actually decent)

Wait, I think that's it.

http://io9.com/389812/stare-into-the-faces...new-thundercats

A quick look at what *MIGHT* be the new Panthro for the TCats cgi movie. Looks like something Dracula (as played by Gary Oldman!) barfed up. But anyway- it's not too bad.

Oh gods. Something tells me that, if that's the truth, Cheetara just lost all of her hotness. Damn! *Gets funny looks as crickets chirp* What? Like you guys didn't think the same thing.

Hm? Just don't know what you're talking about.....

http://darinm.deviantart.com/art/Thunderca...ion-V2-75223810

http://ragnarok2k3.deviantart.com/art/Chee...olored-62849995

grrr, baby, very grrrr!

*Drools endlessly.* Nope, don't have a clue what you mean.

Holy crap, I found a more stable GF for ol Cheetor.
http://shibamura-prime.deviantart.com/art/...eetara-52355284

Also, yeah, boy-hood crush turned older.
http://stalk.deviantart.com/art/Tis-a-wily-one-33220605

Now I can look at Wilykit and not feel like a pedophile! :slurp:

It's ok, I'll find pics to get you in touch with your old feelings. lol

Seriously, there's barely any pics of Wily-Kit on DA. :(

Until then, enjoy the realities of fandom:
http://mittens-d-cat.deviantart.com/art/Re...Fandom-75775581

LOLICON!

:lol: Seriously, that's all I got.

EDIT: Ok, while we're on the subject of sadly under-rated charcters who don't get enough love, two really stick out in my mind, Venus!
http://turtlefreak121.deviantart.com/art/T...antern-68704530
http://jessfox.deviantart.com/art/Venus-7229277
http://lunarlotis.deviantart.com/art/Venus-70579596

And Mona!
http://ty-chou.deviantart.com/art/TMNT-Goi...imming-60783986
http://dragunovcobra.deviantart.com/art/TM...na-Lisa-5684310
http://ty-chou.deviantart.com/art/Mona-Lis...Kimono-62257794
http://oceam.deviantart.com/art/TMNT-Red-and-Pink-56992860

Oh Hell, make it a triple-play, Ninjara!
http://koyasu-aya.deviantart.com/art/Ninjara-26840478
http://winterwinstar.deviantart.com/art/Ninjara-15840726
*This one's kinda questionable, but, seeing as how she's covered, I put it about a PG-13 area. Trust me, I won't make the same mistake twice. *sweatdrops* *
http://limeykat.deviantart.com/art/Ninjara-84404296

And, last but not least, all three girls in the same area!
*Despite the title, this one's safe, trust me.*
http://kanmeros.deviantart.com/art/TMNT-Threesome-6721739

So, any other un-sung females anybody want's me to look for?

Also, yeah, there is at least one other pic of Wily-kit I found on DA, but I can't post it here.

Wilykit grew up years ago when Wildstorm did their Thundercats comics.

Here, have a pic:

You want to see those characters again? Start knocking at Peter Laird's door. You can find him here.

Now, I can tell you one thing, he HATES Venus. Something about a rule of his that says the Turtles can't reproduce.

Mona was a one shot character, so I don't see how she could be under or overrated (Btw, her episode is one of my favorites from season 4). Mona may have been designed by Laird & Eastman, so there's a chance if he'd get off he's high horse and use those characters (Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang, etc.).

Ninjara may see the light of day next year. Next year, Mirage will be printing the Forever Wars arc that was suppose to end the Archie comics but was cut because of sells and darkness (for an Archie comic, that is). Ninjara may show up, but since I've never followed the Archie series, I can't say for sure.

PS Is it bad that I have porn of every female mentioned in this post? :P





Back to the topic, I remember eekday cartoons. Before shcool was Power Rangers, then after Fox stopped weekday mornings I remember the "Power Block", and then that turned into just Beast Wars. Weekday afternoons were my favorites. I remember coming home, getting a snack, then watch the first 2 shows (which were the unimportant comedy cartoons I'd seen a billion time) while getting a bit of homework out of the way, then watching the action stuff after that (Power Rangers kept that time slot for years). I also remember The Disney Afternoon, but mostly before Fox Kids started up and the shows that got put on Fox after Fox Kids morning stuff through syndication (Darkwing comes to mind here) and flipping to it midway through the afternoon shows for Aladdin.

Anyways, I knew something was wrong with Fox Kids when they cut the afternoon shows. A year later, they turned over to FoxBox (aka 4kids) and Saturday mornings just haven't been the same. Only good thing to come out a 4 kids is the 2k3 version TMNT and their starting to even ruin that now too (Fast Forward being the start of said ruining).......man I miss Fox Kids... <_<

*Drools at the comic pic.* Nice.

Also, um, care to PM me some links to said pics? *sweatdrops* Nah, it's not bad at all.

Thanks for the Turtles info Blade Raider, now if only it would give me his frickin' address! Seriously, Venus wasn't a bad character, she was just thrown in at the last second, and treated like crap by her creator and the company. It's a MewTwo-esque problem.

Hmm, wouldn't mind seeing Ninjara come back, and now I know which season Mona was in, yay, it's the same one I'm getting from my library. Woot!

Now, if I can only get the comics through my library, I'll be happy.

As far as the original topic goes, yeah, I remember the good old days, when I'd come home from school, sit down, and watch cartoons for just two hours. It wasn't much, but it was good. Then, they got it changed to just weekends, then, even Sunday's shows died off, leaving only Saturday's. Gods, how I wish I could change things.

Also, speaking of which, does anyone remember a live-action martial arts show that came on after the cartoons? The characters wore outfits kinda like something from Street Fighter or MK, they had to fight off ninjas, getting points for whoever took out the most, and they also scored points when they hit eachother. I forget what it was called, but I knew it was cheesy, but cool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Super_Mar...ros._Super_Show!


nuff said

Oh I know all about Wilykit. Check out these TC fandom awards I made back in 2002:









There were a ton more, but these ones are my favorites. :D

most improved LOLOL

I really like this redesign of the thunderkittens. It works.

http://cheeks-74.deviantart.com/art/Lion-O...-color-32883710

http://mittens-d-cat.deviantart.com/art/My...p-here-32295645

http://mittens-d-cat.deviantart.com/art/Un...ention-32738915

Hmm, the first one looks almost like a design for a new animated series. Kinda cool.

I LOL'd so much on the other two.

Also, apparently, somebody doesn't love Lion-O, lol.
http://mittens-d-cat.deviantart.com/art/Th...raitor-42412305